Grassroots Enthusiasm Will Inevitably Wrestle Down the Machinery of the State

 Grassroots Enthusiasm Will Inevitably Wrestle Down the Machinery of the State

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

November 15, 2019

 Translation of an Excerpt

The 2020 presidential election campaign rages on; up to now, the DPP, backed up by leading support ratings in surveys, has ostensibly shown full confidence. In reality, it is superficial, while filled with fear and unease. Otherwise, how could Tsai Ing-wen, just for seeking re-election, manipulate and control the machinery of the state for electoral purposes, abuse government resources to the point of employing the extreme. Following the incident in which President Tsai attended the friends of Tsai club in the medical profession, noting the absence of “Veterans General Hospital (VGH)” physicians, now it has been reported that the Union of Taiwan Shipbuilding Corp. has issued mobilization circulars, requiring members and cadres to attend the inaugural meeting of its Kaohsiung VGH Union with their families. Such blatant approaches against administrative neutrality have elicited enormous controversies.

At present, although Tsai Ing-wen is leading survey ratings, the scenes of her gatherings and activities have been less than lukewarm. Even with mobilizing crowds for support, from the quiet and indifferent expressions of the crowds being mobilized, everybody could see the inklings. In contrast, at the scenes of Han Kuo-yu’s gatherings and activities, not only are there large crowds of hardcore fans showing firm support, but also enthusiastic local supporters of the various counties and cities, the scenes have always been filled with overflowing zeal plus thunderous ovations. This sharp contrast between cold and hot is sufficient to explain that the survey figures are cold, while the people's hearts are warm. The whole campaign will undoubtedly be a dynamic development; in the less than two months leading to election day, electoral prospects will absolutely have changes that rock people’s hearts.

The DPP at the current stage resembles very much the KMT of 30 years ago which it lambasted as an authoritarian party abusing the machinery of the state. Although controlling the majority of mainstream mass media outlets, coupled with various types of organizational mobilization and the injection of government resources, in the end it still could not stop people power, the irreplaceable grassroots zeal sufficient to wrestle down superior resources and mobilization! A year ago, who would have thought that the KMT’s rebirth, like a phoenix from the ashes, could have resurged from the monolithic Green south? And who would have thought that from the KMT would emerge a Han Kuo-yu, who ignited and inspired the people at the grassroots? Taiwan is situated in a world of drastic changes; the logic and value styles of politics are also being transformed as a result. The DPP’s pomposity, hypocrisy and abuse of the machinery of the state will soon taste the bitter fruit of its own doing.

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